Republic of Pisa

The Republic of Pisa was an independent maritime republic and commercial power centered on the Tuscan city of Pisa, flourishing from around the year 1000 and holding territory across the Mediterranean including Corsica, Sardinia and various coastal cities, before it was annexed by the Republic of Florence in 1406. Initially governed by consuls and later by a Council of Elders, it came under the control of the Visconti family in the early fifteenth century shortly before Florence's conquest, and for roughly a century it dominated Mediterranean and Italian trade, rivaling Genoa at sea and Florence and Lucca on land, while its currency included the grosso pisano and the aquilino and its common languages were Tuscan, Latin and Italian. Pisa took an active part in the Crusades to secure valuable trading positions, but suffered a decisive decline after its defeat by Genoa at the Battle of Meloria in 1284.